


Fire Lily Oil

by mindbending



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Humor, Implied Sexual Content, Interrupted Sex, M/M, Mistakes were made, for example i didn't make a single pun about assassinations, i have brought dishonor on my cow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:08:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25775644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mindbending/pseuds/mindbending
Summary: There’s an assassin in Sparky’s bedroom. It’s the only explanation for the extra heartbeat. The sounds of exertion. The ominous thumping of furniture. Fueled by both duty and friendship, Toph crashes in, ready for battle-Only to get smacked by a faceful ofSokka’s new perfume.
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Past Sokka/Suki (Avatar) - Relationship, Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Suki/Ty Lee (Avatar)
Comments: 147
Kudos: 1632





	Fire Lily Oil

**Author's Note:**

> For anyone who prefers more specific content warnings, there's a detailed summary in the end notes.

“What’s new?”

Toph asks a vague and lazy question for a hot and lazy day. She’s sprawling on the Fire Nation palace lawn, sandals kicked off in two high arcs, hair yanked out of its bun to fall sloppily across her face. The summer sun is warm, and she’s wiggled her fingers deep into the soil of this manicured garden (and no one can yell at her about the ten holes she leaves, which is clearly the main advantage of being BFFs with the Fire Lord).

Through the soil, she can feel Katara and Aang plucking fancy royal daisy-roses to make each other flower crowns. Suki’s draped boneless across Ty Lee’s lap as her brand-new girlfriend goes poking along her spine- no chi-blocking, just old-fashioned stress-melting massage.

And then there’s Zuko and Sokka. 

They’re sitting six feet apart, each noticeably alone and angled away from the other. Luckily, Toph can’t be fooled by their outward posturing. She only knows what she _feels._ Whenever Zuko shifts, Sokka does too a second later. Whenever Sokka speaks, Zuko’s heart does a truly humiliating cartwheel.

“Nothing much,” Katara says, a delayed response to Toph’s question. “Nothing’s new at the South Pole, at least not since my last letter.”

(Toph gets letters now, because Sokka helped her invent a truly awesome code of poking holes in paper on _purpose._ Everyone in their little gang picked it up, so now Toph reads and reads until her fingertips get sore.)

“There was another coup attempt up here,” Zuko says breezily. “Azula’s, this time. It’s why they were smart enough to send an assassin as opposed to trying another Agni Kai.”

“Unfortunately,” Sokka finishes, “said assassin wasn’t smart enough to not get smoked.”

“Unfortunately?” Zuko protests. Maybe his face is scowling- everyone claims that’s his default setting- but all Toph can hear is a sugar-sweet smile.

“You raised the tariffs on sea prunes! Maybe _I’m_ going to be the next assassin stabbing you in your sleep.”

“You’ll never get into his bedroom with that attitude,” Suki comments slyly.

“Of course he wouldn’t,” Zuko scoffs. “My guards would protect me from any harm!”

It’s a good thing Toph is already lying down. If not, she would smack her head into the ground.

/

“So,” Katara says, voice bubbling with mischief, “what’s new?”

Zuko’s headed in for a formal dinner. Sokka’s run off to check his latest experiment. Everyone remaining quickly checks they’re alone before bursting into giggles.

“On one hand, Sokka’s over me and I’m glad,” Suki says first. “On the other hand, the oblivious pining is _painful.”_

“Zuko did his hair with fire lily oil,” Ty Lee coos. “He’s totally wooing Sokka.”

Toph snorts. “Is _that_ what that was?”

“That,” Katara says, “and the pine-greaseberry lotion Sokka wears all the time now. He claims it’s the ‘essence of romance.’”

“I airbended most of the smog away before we choked,” Aang says.

Toph tosses him a thumbs-up. “You’re the best, airhead.”

“It would be good for the world if they joined together,” he muses, no doubt stroking his straggly wannabe beard. “A real show of balance and unity…”

“And maybe Sokka would stop trying on ten outfits a day, trying to look handsome,” Katara exclaims, her gesticulating palpable through the ground. “Thank the spirits I don’t do his laundry anymore…”

“Ten?” Toph repeats in disbelief.

“Minimum! He hasn’t stared at his muscles this much since _before we all met!”_

“Wow,” she intones, shaking her head. “They couldn’t get any more embarrassing if they tried.”

/

Future Toph will look back fondly on Present Toph as a sweet, naive baby.

/

Past midnight, Toph flops out of her bed- a too-soft mattress, with scratchy embroidery and a suffocating heap of covers- and stalks out into the palace. She can’t sleep because it’s too hot. More importantly, she _won’t_ sleep specifically because Katara told her she ought to, like she’s still a child. She’s a sixteen-year-old war hero, thank you very much. She doesn’t need a _bedtime._

So she creeps through the Fire Nation palace, absorbing every tremor through her toes. She notes the sloping floor here, the secret passageway there. She steals past three sets of guards without being seen. She heads straight for the royal wing, because the guards made clear years ago that it’s off-limits to everyone but the Fire Lord and his most trusted servants. That’s practically an invitation in her book.

The further she creeps into forbidden territory, the quieter the palace gets. The silence turns almost spooky, and with a shiver Toph wonders if maybe she should’ve stayed in bed. She laughs the nerves off a second later and plunges on, feeling her way towards a cluster of guards around the corner, stationed by the door to Sparky’s chambers. She taps a hand on the wall, feeling out the mazelike design. There’s antechambers inside, and a linen closet, and a bathroom that feels entirely made of marble, and a spacious bedroom with yet another too-soft bed. She leans her forehead against the wall, seeking out the faint rhythm of Zuko’s pulse before going back to sleep-

Zuko’s heart is beating double-time, like he’s in the throes of panic.

Toph frowns. Listens a little closer.

Feels another elevated pulse way too close for her comfort, and then the unmistakable thumping of furniture.

Without a second thought Toph bends through one wall, then another. She has no doubt about what’s going down right now. It’s another assassination attempt, and Sparky’s trying to fend it off alone, maybe because he’s afraid of relying on anyone, maybe because he has an undiagnosed death wish. There’s no thought in Toph’s mind except that she’s gotta save Zuko from the assassin, no other consideration as she crashes through the innermost wall screaming, “Murder!”

“No!” Zuko squeaks at her from the general direction of the enormous bed. He _squeaks,_ in blatant terror, like he’s just that afraid of letting anyone else into his life and really, Toph is going to murder him herself once she’s saved him-

The entire room smells of fire lily oil. 

It smells of fire lily oil, pine and greaseberry, and the world freezes in honor of a momentous occasion, never to be seen again for decades: Toph might just have made a mistake.

From the general area of the bed drifts Sokka’s voice: “Hey, Toph.”

In the last second of calm before the storm, Toph shifts out of a fighting stance and waves hi. “What’s up, Sokka.”

Her brain supplies her with a likely answer. Scratch that- two likely answers.

Fortunately before Sokka can seize on the pun, reality crashes back in with a literal crash, as a veritable army of devoted bodyguards barrels through the antechambers to save Zuko.

“The Fire Lord is in danger!”

“Raise the alarm!”

“Save the Fire Lord!”

Zuko springs out of bed and storms across the room, doubling the clamor by hollering for everyone to please not save the Fire Lord, but he can’t stop the squadron of guards from smashing through what Toph supposes was a very nice door. They immediately freeze, taking in whatever scene is before them. Not for the first time, Toph is very thankful to be blind.

“As you can all see,” Zuko says, somehow summoning a steady lordly tone, “I’m doing okay right now.”

“...yes,” comes a halting voice, from Zuko’s usually gruff and fearless head guard. “You seem to be doing very well.”

“Thanks,” says Sokka.

“Sokka!” says Zuko.

“And you would let us know,” the guard adds, hesitating, “if you were in need of any ass- assistance.”

“I would,” Zuko confirms, the words strangled.

“I have to remind you,” she continues, and Toph can’t judge which of them sounds more ready for death, “given the alarm, your doctor will insist on a immediate and thorough medical inspection-“

“No,” Zuko squeaks again in utter mortification. “No, as Fire Lord I am decreeing that there will be no thorough medical inspections of my person until, uh...tomorrow night!”

“He can do that,” Sokka adds casually, still on the bed.

Zuko whips his head around. “I can?”

“Sure, section 3 of the Constitutional Interpretation handbook.”

(Spirits, he’s not even lying.)

“So I can do that,” Zuko declares more firmly.

“In that case, we’ll leave you alone now.” 

Everyone proceeds to stay right where they are. It’s a perfect tableau- Sokka hasn’t moved a single inch since Toph came in, except to rearrange the covers and grab a pillow. It occurs to her that maybe he _can’t_ move an inch, not without sparking an international scandal _._

“Er, if I may?” the head guard ventures. “Congratulations, sir. It’s an excellent match.”

“We intend to be discreet,” Zuko answers, painfully stilted. “Between the political implications and the fact that our families should be the first to know-“

“We promise to treat your situation with the gravity it deserves.”

Behind her, Toph can hear the clinking of coins amidst the other guards. Someone just won a _lot_ of bets _._

The head guard sweeps into a deep bow. “No one else will know until you are entirely ready-“

“Zuko?!” All the latches on the window blow open as Aang somersaults in on a burst of air. 

“I’m not dying,” Zuko deadpans, “and kinda regretting it right now.”

“...wow. I thought I was over dreaming about Fire Lords without pants.”

“You dreamt about my dad without _pants?”_

“He had a phase,” Sokka says, right as Toph squawks, “You’re not wearing pants?!”

“I still have underwear on,” Zuko snaps right back.

Sokka mumbles “sadly,” but Toph graciously chooses to ignore that, because the fourth wave of rescuers just rushed in.

“Zuko, are you dyi- _oh.”_

“Suki, Ty Lee. Great to see you.” Zuko speaks with more restraint than Toph knew he had.

“Whoa,” Ty Lee says, flouncing right past Zuko onto the bed where Sokka’s still lying, hopefully under several layers of covers, “you weren’t kidding about his abs, Suki.”

“I would know, wouldn’t I?” Suki retorts.

There’s a pair of clicks; Sokka probably just shot two finger guns back at her.

“At this rate, _I’m_ never going to know,” Zuko grumbles. More loudly he says, “Could you please stop squeezing your girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend?”

“You mean ‘your boyfriend’?” Ty Lee squeals. “You two are the _cutest couple!”_

“I’m very proud of you,” Aang cuts in, in his most pious Avatar voice. “I knew you wouldn’t let old ideas of propriety hide true love.”

“No matter how much we tried,” Zuko says. There’s a slap, probably from his face hitting his palm.

“We’re really glad,” Suki adds, “that you two acknowledged your feelings and started a relationship.”

“What,” Sokka quips, “you thought we’d never notice we liked each other and just pine hopelessly for the rest of our lives?”

“...yes. Yes, that’s exactly what we thought.”

Sokka splutters, and Zuko splutters, and Toph once again thinks there’s no way this could get more embarrassing. Then Katara comes charging down the hall. On sheer instinct, Toph flings up an arm and flings up a three-walled privacy screen, all around the bed. 

Though the sound’s muffled by walls, she can hear Sokka mumble a million thanks.

Katara inhales sharply upon entering the room. After approximately one century of silence, she asks, “Sokka, is that you behind that wall?”

“Maybe,” Sokka calls back.

“If it helps,” chirps Ty Lee, “I’m here too!”

Thus begins another century of silence.

Zuko breaks it, protesting, “It’s not what it looks like.”

Toph takes a moment to consider what it must look like- approximately twenty people past midnight, all mingling in the Fire Lord’s bedroom while in varying states of disarray. Spirits, Toph’s _still in her pajamas._

“I should hope not,” Katara replies with a tone of ice that sounds directly addressed to Aang. Then she wheels around towards Zuko. “Are you courting my brother?”

“Yes,” says Zuko without hesitation, though the word’s pitched an octave higher than usual.

“And do you love him respectfully, with a pure admiration _solely for his mind?”_

“...yes?”

“And do you understand that if you hurt him, I will ram an ice dagger right through your floral-print boxers?”

“I swear, I don’t usually wear printed boxers-“

“Zuko!”

“Yes! Look, if _anyone_ hurt him I’d fight them on the spot!”

Toph gets stuck imagining Zuko challenging himself to an Agni Kai, but Katara seems satisfied with the answer.

“I think,” she says with perfect seriousness, “that we have a busy schedule tomorrow, so everyone should go back to their beds.”

“Aw,” whines Sokka.

“I’m not going to _drag_ you out,” Katara says, and she definitely just facepalmed too. Then, with more dignity than anyone else has still got, she turns around and strides back out. Toph takes down the walls, smoothing them back into the floor more or less, and everyone streams out through the hole where the door used to be.

Almost everyone.

“Hey, Toph?” Zuko says when she remains, immovable as a boulder in the center of his room. “Can we help you?”

“Yes.” She dons her sweetest smile. “Yes, you can. You can both tell me that you were here for just a friendly sleepover-“

“That’s technically true,” Sokka says, but she lifts a finger to shush him.

“And that the only reason you’re both low on clothes is the summer heat makes it hard to sleep-“

“Uh,” says Zuko. “Well...”

 _“And_ the only reason Zuko’s wearing special underwear is the fire lily festival, ‘cause you’re getting into the spirit of your big cultural holiday-“

“But-“

“And the only reason this _entire room stinks of lotion and oil_ is that this is a sleepover, and you were giving each other makeovers!”

They don’t say anything, for a merciful change.

“And if you don’t say this, or if I don’t believe you,” Toph says, going all demure and sweet again, “then I will personally tear this entire palace down to rubble.”

“Oh, if you do I have a bunch of ideas for the redesign-“

 _“Sokka!”_ both Toph and Zuko shriek over him.

“...yeah,” Sokka says, after several weird deep breathing exercises that he definitely learned off his new flame. “Toph, everything you just said was totally right.”

Huh, he became an okay liar at some point. Good to know.

“Ditto,” Zuko adds. Right on cue his heart does a thunderous loop-de-loop, but for her own mental peace Toph will deem that a symptom of being around Sokka.

“Great,” Toph declares, before walking right back through the walls. Doors are for suckers.

As she plods back to her own bedroom, she reflects on the night’s revelations. Zuko owns flowery underwear. Sokka and Zuko have their act together, way more than anyone would have predicted. They _are_ cute, Toph admits begrudgingly, and having Sokka around makes her feel better about Zuko’s safety. If any more traitors challenge him to an Agni Kai, Sokka will probably rules-lawyer them into fighting with both hands tied behind their back. Sokka and Zuko are honestly sweet together, and their brand of mutual weirdness will benefit the Fire Nation in the long run. 

(Still, tonight, they might have all preferred an ordinary assassin.)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. Kudos and comments are appreciated <3 Also I promise the fic where Zuko challenges himself to an Agni Kai is coming soon...
> 
> Detailed summary for warning purposes: At age sixteen, Toph accidentally barges into Zuko's bedroom while Zukka's engaged in some sort of sexual activity. Other people follow her in, also on accident. Ty Lee ends up invading Sokka's personal space; Zuko objects. Everyone can guess vaguely what Zuko and Sokka were doing, resulting in some innuendo, but Zuko and Sokka manage to keep the details to themselves. There is no explicit sexual content in this story.


End file.
